Flaked soap and process of making the same



To all whom it may concern:

Patented 'Feb. 2, 1926.

no STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. DAWES, OF. LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN.

FLAKED SOAP AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME.

No Drawing.

Be it known that l, Gnoaen F. DAWES, a citizen of the United States, residing at La Crosse, in the county of La Grosse and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain 1 new and useful Im rovements in Flake Soap v or inary hard soap without the addition spongeous or porous so that andProcesses of akin the Same, of which the following is a s eci cation.

This invention re ates to the production of dry'soap powder, flakes or granules, and the general object of the inventlon is to produce a ranular, flaky or powdered soap from thereto of any material such as caustics, etc., which might tend to injure its quality as a safe cleanser. I

Another object is to produce a soap, every granule, flake or particle of which is the water with which the soap is used may have the greatest possible action in dissolving the soap.-

And a further object is to provide for increasing the detergent qualities of soap so that it will operate with greater effect as ,a

cleanser and be much more economical in use than the ordinary dry soaps, powdered v or flake soaps.

Another object is to provide a process by which hard soap may be reduced to a flake,

powder or granular form'with a relatively great increase in the bulk of the soap.

Still another object is to provide a process which will cause ard soap to be placed in such condition that it ma be readily powdered, flaked or granulated i Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

In order to produce a granulated, powdered orflaked soap in accordance with In invention, I take ordinary hard soap suc as is used for laundry or toilet purposes and commonly known as cake soap or bar soap and thoroughly permeate the *soap with moisture, as by soaking the soap in water until it has taken up a suflicient degree of water and is relatively and uniformly soft. The soa which has been thoroughly permeated wit moisture, as above stated, is

then preferably placed in an oven, vessel or container but wlthout any water or other liquid in the container and submitted to an i even heat of from 250 F. to 450 F., this heat being preferably from 35091 to 400 F. Under this dry heat the water or 'moisture in the soap is expelled and this water or moisture in trying to escape from the from merely 'granulating,

powdering hard soap in the usual manner.

Application filed February 26, 1921. Serial No. 448,188.

soap in the form of steam or other vapor causes the soa to swell or puff u so that the soap is le in an extremely ight,.porous and spongy and porous condition. The

soap is kept within the heated vessel or othticles orv granules.

It is my theory of the action of the ex panding steam on the soa that the particles of soap however small ecome permeated with moisture and when subjected to a sudden and intense heat swell and burst from within outward. Fats or oils not saponified cannot be permeated with moisture and cannot be dissolved in water as is soap, but saponi- 'fication allows the particles to be penetrated by moisture, andit is these water-permeated particles which burst when subjected to a predetermined degree of heat.

I have found in actice that soap which has been treated 1n accordance with the above process and which is anulated or ,flaked is much more soluble 1m water than other forms of flaked, powdered or granulated soap, and that it has a much greater is increased about three times. That is to say, assuming that a cake of soap is' powdered or flaked by ordinary processes and a like cake of soap is subjected to my process and then granulated or owdered or flaked, the flak or granula product from my process will have approximately three times the bulk of the pr flaking or I have found that soap flakes, powders or granules with regard to solubility, the pronotion of suds and cleansing pro erties are much superior in every way to t e soap in its original form or to a like soa which has been granulated,'flaked or pow ered in the. ordinary manner, and thata soap formed in accordance with my process. possesses a deter ent, dirt removing power which the origina soap not possess and which is not possessed bythefsame amount of soap not secured I .cleansing effect, while the bulk of the soap l I the application of formed in the ordinary manner. Furthermore, I have found from actual tests that the soap formed in accordance with my process is much quicker in its action and it is, therefore, much more effective than ordinary soaps. Actual tests have proved that a tablespoonful of soap flakes or powders made in accordance with my invention has three times the effective value of a tablespoonful of the soap "in its originalform, due to the fact that the original soap is increased in bulk about three times what it was but withou any loss of eiiiciency and in fact with a gain in its cleansing and detergent powers.

My process enables the soap when placed in water to dissolve much more easily and thoroughly than if the soap had been dried at a low temperature, as the ordinary soap powders are, and then granulated or powdared Actual tests have shown that soap subjected to the process above described has a quality which no other soap, not even soft wet soap, possesses. This quality renders it capable of being at once reached in every particle by a sufficient amount of water to dissolve it. Undissolved soap has no cleansing eifect because every least particle of the soap is extremely porous or spongeous. The process of dissolution under the action of water when the soap is used gives it greater energy and far uicker action than ordinar soap and this without heat or the expenditure of any more labor than is used with ordinary soap. Ordinary dry soap in any form is dense and only a small percentage of the particles are capable of exerting a cleansing influence throughout a given time, and for a perfect dissolution of this dry soap there is required the application of heat or friction and a much longer time is necessary to accomplish the same results than is necessary with my porous and granulated soap. Its instantly penetrable nature caused b its extreme porosity gives it all the a vanta es of a liquid soap, which has every particle saturated to the point of dissolution, with the added advantages of a dry soap.

I am aware that it is the ordinary practice to make dry soap such as flake soap, soap chips and powders b drying at a low temperature, but' this rying is accomplished without impregnating the soap cake with water and then placing it in a relatively high heat so as to expel the water in the form of vapor and render the soa spongy, but the cleansing power of soap ried at a relatively low heat as described is not en hanced by the dryingprocess as it is in my case. The slow drying of soap at a relatively low temperature will not accomplish the results called for because the moisture will be driven out gradually by evaporation, which will not produce the dry, spongeous mass referred to. e

I do not wish to be limited to the soaking of the cake of dry soap in water for the purpose of giving enough moisture to the soap to permit steam or other vapor to be formed, as it is obvious that the soap in the process of formation and at a time when the soap is not dry but is filled with water could be reduced to a spongeous mass by expelling the water under the relatively high heat before referred to. Neither do 1 wish to be limited to the exact degree of heat called for, as this may be varied within a considerable range, nor to any specific length of time during which the soap is to be subjected to the action of heat, as this will vary with different soaps and with different moisture content. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the temperature might be relatively low and then raised to the. degree called for to expel the vapors provided this raise is relatively ra id. Preferably, however, the soap is suhjected immediately to a temperature of approximately 350 F. I do not wish to be limited to any particular manner of subjecting the mass to heat in order to render it spongeous.

I have used the term granular in the claims hereto appended as descriptive of the eventual condition of the soap] after it is broken up into small particles, and this term granular is meant to include soap in the form of flakes, powders or granules.

1. A step in the process of makmg granular soap which consists in submitting soap containing a great amount of water to a dry heat at a temperature of approximately from 250 F. to 400 F and at atmospheric pressure to thereby raise the water in the soap to steam and cause its expulsion suddenly from the soap and thereby render the soap porous.

2. A step in the process of forming granular soap consisting in incorporating 1n the soap a relatively large amount of water and expelling the water, and subjectmg the soap to the action of ,a relatively high degree of heat at atmospheric pressure, to thereby transform the water into steam and eject the steam suddenly from the soap and thus render the soap porous.

3. A process of forming granular soap consisting in incorporating water with hard soap, then subjecting the soap to a relative- (11y igh degree of dry heat and suddenly riving off the water contained in the soap in the form of steam, thus rendering the soap spongeous and porous, and then granulating the mass.

4. A process of forming flake soap consisting in causing a cake of hard soap to absorb a relatively large degree of moisture and then subjecting the cake to the action of a relatively high degree of heat'to thereby suddenly expel the moisture in the form of steam and render the 'mass porous, and granulating the resultant orous mass.

5. A process of preparinggranular soap consisting in immersing-a cake of hard soap in water until the soap has absorbed a rela tively great amount of water, and then subjecting the 'soap to a dry heat of from 250? F. to 450 F., and vthen granulating the soap.

6. A process of preparing consisting in causing a cake 0 anular soap hard soap to absorb a relatively great amount of moisture, then subjectingthe mass to a dry heat of from 250 F. to 450 F. until all of the water in the soap has been expelled, and then granulating the resultant mass.

7. An article of manufacture consisting of soap exploded from within by internal pressure and thus reduced to granular form, each granule thereof being rendered porous by said explosion.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

GEORGE F. DAWES. 

